Celebs Who Dated Stars Of The Bachelor And The Bachelorette
Viewers have been captivated by The Bachelor and its spinoffs since the first rose was given in March 2002. The reality dating shows have gained new fans each season, with famous celebrities even admitting to freeing up their Monday nights just to watch men and women bare it all for the name of love. In fact, some famous members of Bachelor Nation crossed the line from fandom into their own romantic storyline with contestants on the shows.
Yep, these former contestants and leads from The Bachelor and The Bachelorette co-mingled with some of Hollywood's biggest celebs, giving a final rose to an A-list star. There haven't been many successful romances between a celebrity and a former Bachelor star, (except for a couple, like the incredible, but at-times odd love story between Sarah Hyland and contestant Wells Adams), but, plenty of stars have given these reality stars a shot of love, even if it was just a fling.
Gigi Hadid and Tayler Cameron had a short-lived fling
Supermodel Gigi Hadid and Season 15 contestant of The Bachelorette, Tyler Cameron, had a romance that was brief, but it made constant headlines. According to Marie Claire, it all went down in July 2019 when Hadid, a big fan of the reality show, started following Cameron on Instagram, and he soon followed her right back. By the next month, E! reported that the two were spotted hanging out in New York City, with the paparazzi even snagging shots of Cameron leaving Hadid's apartment. Hadid and Cameron took things to the next level in August when Page Six shared that the duo went on a "road trip in upstate New York." In September, Cameron attended Hadid's grandmother's funeral in the Netherlands, after being photographed accompanying the model with her sister Bella Hadid, brother Anwar Hadid, and his girlfriend Dua Lipa.
The pair appeared to grow apart later that year after Cameron told ET's Lauren Zima of he and the supermodel, "We're just friends." Marie Claire further reported that by November, the two had unfollowed each other on Instagram, with Cameron telling People TV, "It wasn't like a bad breakup or anything like that. It was just, we're at different parts of our lives right now. We're just friends." By April 2020, TMZ reported that Hadid was back on with ex Zayn Malik and pregnant with her first child.
Lauren Bushnell went from Bachelor Ben Higgins to country star Chris Lane
Fans will remember Lauren Bushnell from Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor, during which she accepted a final rose from him and got engaged on national television. However, the pair called off the engagement in 2017, and two years later, the reality star found herself finding love again with country star Chris Lane. According to Us Weekly, Bushnell met the singer backstage after his performance at the Stagecoach music festival, and they were confirmed to be dating after walking the red carpet together at the BMI Country Music Awards in 2018.
Before meeting Bushnell, Lane actually dated another Bachelor contestant with the same name, Lauren Barr, who was also on the same season as Bushnell. However, once the country singer and Bushnell were an item, Us Weekly reported that Bushnell called Barr to let her know she was seeing her ex.
The couple had a whirlwind romance. By June 2019, Lane and Bushnell were engaged to be married, and in October, tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Nashville, which can also be seen in a music video for Lane's song, "Big, Big Plans." In December 2020, The Bachelor alum announced that she was expecting, and one month after revealing that she was pregnant, she announced (via Instagram) they were going to have a boy.
This Bachelor star dished on his brief romance with January Jones
The 21st season of The Bachelor featured Nick Viall as the lead, who ended up proposing to contestant Vanessa Grimaldi, but just five months in, the two broke off their engagement, as E! reported. Watching his season, actor January Jones confessed that Viall "slid into [her] DMs" after he caught wind of her talking negatively about him. Viall recalled messaging her on Instagram, telling Better Together with Maria Menounos, "Well, this is me shooting my shot," and it apparently worked for the reality star, who then went on a few dates in 2018 with his "Hollywood crush" as he called Jones.
Jones spilled the tea on her relationship with Viall during an episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, where she admitted that the "thing that attracted" her to Viall was his villainous perception on the dating show and that he "had a bit of a brain." However, both Jones and Viall went on to state that they are just friends. "She was a delightful, wonderful person, and I enjoyed my time with her, and you know, it was great to know her," he told Better Together with Maria Menounos. Jones also clarified that nothing serious was going on between her and Viall, telling ET, "He's a friend of mine. He's super sweet."
Demi Lovato's shout-out to this Bachelorette contestant turned into something more
Singer Demi Lovato proved she was a big fan of The Bachelorette after she shared footage of contestant Mike Johnson on Hannah Brown's season on her Instagram Stories, with the caption, "Mike I accept your rose," according to Glamour. A few months after Johnson was eliminated on the show, the two stars appeared to be flirting with one another on social media, with Johnson liking photos of Lovato in her bikini and commenting on her unedited bathing suit photo with, "Look at me like that again... love yaself."
In September of 2019, E! reported that Lovato and Johnson were seeing each other, with the reality star pretty much making their relationship official when he shared in an interview, "I'm just getting to know Demi. I think she's absolutely fantastic, and I don't want no pressure on her, no pressure on me — we're just trying to get to know each other. That's all."
But, by the very next month, it was reported by People that Johnson and the "What Other People Say" singer were "done." A source for E! explained, "Demi was definitely interested in Mike at one point, but it was short-lived and she wasn't ever planning on dating him seriously."
Bachelor Ben Flajnik rejected Jennifer Love Hewitt
Ben Flajnik might have gotten rejected by Season 7's Bachelorette, Ashley Hebert, but he did get to go on a date with actor Jennifer Love Hewitt, according to an interview he did with USA Today. The Sonoma, Calif. winemaker admitted that Hewitt — who had previously and not-so-subtly professed her interest in the reality star — personally reached out for a rendezvous. And while Flajnik was receptive to the 9-1-1 star's advances, it was all bad timing as he was preparing for another shot at reality TV love.
"She reached out and wanted to come up to the winery, which she did. We went out to dinner and just kind of chatted about life and the experience," Flajnik shared, adding, "She's a nice girl, but I wasn't — it was right in the middle of the time when I was deciding to be the Bachelor. When this is all said and done, ending up with a Hollywood celebrity is not something that I want."
Page Six reported that during their night out, witnesses spotted the pair "making out" in San Francisco, but as much as fans would have liked to see the two together, there apparently were no sparks between them. Flajnik went on to star on Season 16 of The Bachelor.
Bachelor star Colton Underwood felt 'numb' after Aly Raisman split
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman was asked out by The Bachelor alum Colton Underwood during a Yahoo! Sports video in August 2016. The gold medalist happily agreed. During this time, Underwood wasn't known for being a reality star, but was a tight end for the Las Vegas Raiders (formally the Oakland Raiders). The two must have hit it off, because that December, they walked the red carpet together at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony 2016, according to People. The next month, Raisman took Underwood to the Golden Globes and since then, the two went very public with their relationship, going to NBA games and gushing about one another on social media.
However, this young love only lasted for about a year after Raisman apparently broke up with Underwood over Facetime, in June 2017, with The Bachelor alum sharing the details in his book, The First Time (via Life & Style). He wrote about how falling hard for Raisman, telling her he loved her after just two months of dating. Of the abrupt spilt, Underwood wrote, "I pulled over to the side of the road, stunned and unable to comprehend this was happening... Afterward, I sat in my car and cried. I was numb for days."
Since their split, Underwood became a contestant on Becca Kufrin's season as The Bachelorette and became known as the country's most famous virgin when he was announced as the lead for the 23rd season of The Bachelor.
Rachel Bilson got flirty with this Bachelor star on Instagram
Actor Rachel Bilson and former star of The Bachelor, Nick Viall, sparked romance rumors after she appeared on his podcast, The Viall Files, in July 2019. Soon after, the two appeared to be flirting with one another on social media, according to Us Weekly. Both stars kept mum on their relationship, especially after Bilson was blatantly asked about the rumored romance with the actor stating, "I don't want to talk about it." The same outlet asked Viall about his relationship with Bilson, to which he replied, "I'm not really defining my relationships right now but she's definitely a friend and she's great and I always enjoy spending time with Rachel."
However, as fans continued to see the pair leave flirty comments on each other's Instagram accounts, with Viall commenting "Nice mountains," on a scenic picture of Bilson and a few weeks prior, commenting, "nice foliage" on another photo, it doesn't look like the pair's relationship went as far as Bachelor Nation fans might have hoped.
In December 2019, Bilson made it clear that the two were just friends, telling Us Weekly, "We've always been friends. He's a really nice guy." And, as for the Instagram back and forth, Bilson shared that the two were "just messing around" as friends.
Sarah Hyland found lasting love with Bachelorette contestant Wells Adams
Before the world was introduced to the love story between Modern Family star Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams, the reality star was vying for JoJo Fletcher's heart on The Bachelorette, but was eliminated in week six. Adams wasn't giving up on love, however, and had his eyes on Hyland after they had been tweeting back and forth after he appeared on Bachelor in Paradise. In October 2017, Hyland and Adams made their relationship known after posting adorable Halloween photos on Instagram, and soon after, the pair was regularly sharing couple photos on social media.
Hyland later admitted on Jimmy Kimmel Live that it was Adams who made the first move, literally sliding into her DMs on Instagram. In January 2018, the couple made their debut together at their first major award show while attending Entertainment Weekly's SAG Awards Nominees Party (showing a ton of PDA), and by the summer, Adams moved into Hyland's Los Angeles Home, as People reported. Adams took things to the next level after proposing to the actor in July 2019, but unfortunately, the couple had to postpone a planned August 2020 wedding because of the coronavirus. Fans will be eagerly awaiting their new date!
This Bachelor contestant had an awkward run-in with country singer Chase Rice
Things got a little awkward for The Bachelor contestant Victoria Fuller, who was trying to win Delta Air Lines pilot Peter Weber's heart after she found herself face-to-face with country singer Chase Rice, whom she called "my ex-boyfriend" on the show, according to The Washington Post. Weber chose Fuller for the romantic one-on-one date where they spent the day at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, and were going to attend a private concert. However, neither Fuller, Weber, nor Rice knew what was going to happen next, and as The Washington Post shared, both Fuller and Rice "froze" and looked "mortified" after they "locked eyes" and Fuller had to dance with Weber as Rice sang his song, "Lonely If You Are."
Fuller ended up telling Weber that she and Rice were once an item, and the pilot admired her honesty, even giving her a rose. However, the country star was not pleased with the show's surprise, clarifying that he and Fuller only "hung out" and never had a serious relationship. He said in a phone interview (via The Washington Post), "I didn't love it, But that's reality TV for you – I think they just gotta stir things up. I didn't think that they would pull me into it like that." Rice also shared that if he knew that producers were going to drop that bombshell on him, he wouldn't have appeared on the show.
Jesse Metcalfe got burnt bad by this Bachelor villain
In 2012, Courtney Robinson, one of the most memorable "villains" ever to appear on The Bachelor, won Ben Flajnik's heart during Season 16 of the reality show — but their engagement was short-lived and only lasted a little over seven months. Before the model became a contestant, however, she dated a couple of very famous faces, including actors Adrian Grenier and Jesse Metcalfe, according to the Daily Mail.
After her stint on The Bachelor, Robinson wrote a tell-all book, titled I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain, where she dished about her past romances with the Hollywood actors. The model admitted that she met Metcalfe in 2004, after he abruptly stopped his car upon seeing Robinson walking around Los Angeles and "begged her for her number." While she confessed that they hit it off at first, she shared that she "could not trust him" because he was a cheater, which was ultimately the reason she left him. In another passage in the book about the Desperate Housewives star (excerpted by Us Weekly), Robinson negatively compared him to a Fifty Shades of Grey character, saying, "I wish I could say that we were the greatest lovers since Christian Grey and Ana Steele. But I can't lie. The sex was pretty average. Jesse needed a lot of reassurance." Ouch!